Trees Planted On Busy Boulevard

COMMUNITY NEWS

West Boynton Associations Sought Beautification For Years

Forgive Carole Warshaw if she looks at the Boynton Beach Boulevard median and thinks a gopher has gone berserk.

A couple of weeks back, workers hired by the Florida Department of Transportation dug dozens of holes in the stretch of median just west of Lawrence Road.

The holes are intended for 102 laurel oak and Washingtonian palm trees, part of a median beautification program that residents west of Boynton Beach have been clamoring for several years to replace the raw, unkempt grass that is there now.

"I've been working on this for so many years and I just keep getting the runaround," complained Warshaw, who is chairman of the roadway beautification committee of COBWRA, the Coalition of Boynton West Residential Associations.

Last year, the DOT agreed to spend $20,000 to plant trees between the Boynton Beach city limits and Military Trail. That work was supposed to be done last fall but is only now beginning, Warshaw said. And the trees will be planted in only a few scattered locations east of Military.

Carl Higgins, a DOT landscape architect, said the project had to be limited because the trees would have blocked the views of drivers at several intersections and median cuts. He said the tree contractor ran into personal difficulties after digging the holes but is expected to finish the job soon.

Higgins said the first planting will be confined to a median just west of Lawrence Road. If the trees survive, a second planting in other medians east and west of Lawrence will follow in four or five months. More landscaping is planned for next year between Military Trail and Florida's Turnpike.

"I want to make sure the trees are going to go in," Higgins said. "We've done the best we could within our safety guidelines."

He also said Warshaw and COBWRA have hampered his efforts with their complaints. He said the group will get better quality and faster landscaping by negotiating an agreement with Palm Beach County to maintain the medians after they are planted because DOT performs only minimal maintenance in order to limit costs.

"They haven't done anything to help the situation," Higgins said, adding that continued complaints could jeopardize the project.

That comment angered Warshaw, who said Higgins has never mentioned a maintenance agreement with the county. She said she's tired of the delays, but was pleased to finally see the first few trees planted late this week.

"As soon as you put pressure on them, something happens," Warshaw said. "I'm happy to see that it is starting. We worked very hard for this."